The state of Canadian tourism in the ‘elbows up' moment
The Globe's Jason Kirby, who writes for the Report on Business, joins us to talk about what this summer looks like for Canada's travel sector.
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Winnipeg Free Press
15 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
In the news today: Auto industry braces for tariffs, Ottawa to recognize Palestine
Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed… Auto industry looking for tariff exemptions Automotive industry leaders are hoping to see exemptions for vehicles compliant with the current trade deal as Canada and the U.S. continue discussions ahead of the upcoming tariff deadline. Friday marks the deadline in Canada's trade talks with the U.S., as President Donald Trump has threatened to impose 35 per cent tariffs on a wide variety of Canadian goods if the two countries don't reach an agreement before then. 'I think everybody has seen that the Americans, in spite of the fact that they are fighting us for no reason at all, have shown a tendency to show value for USMCA compliance,' said Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association. He said roughly 50 per cent of the parts that go into vehicles made in Canada come from U.S. factories. Eby says B.C. insulated from Trump copper tariffs British Columbia Premier David Eby says an incoming 50 per cent United States tariff on some copper products highlights the need for diversified markets. He says the tariffs will affect provinces differently, pointing out that most of B.C.'s copper goes to Asia, keeping the province 'insulated' from tariff impact. But he says Ontario and Quebec are 'not in a similar' position. Natural Resources Canada says B.C. accounts for almost 46 per cent of mined copper production in Canada. The tariffs announced by the White House on Wednesday, that are to come into effect on Friday, appeared to fall short of some market expectations by exempting copper concentrate, anodes and cathodes that make up a large part of Canada's exports. Canada to recognize State of Palestine Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Wednesday that Canada intends to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations in September, as long as the Palestinian Authority holds elections next year. 'Preserving a two-state solution means standing with all people who choose peace over violence or terrorism. And it means honouring their innate desire for peaceful coexistence,' Carney told reporters on Parliament Hill. He said Ottawa intends to officially recognize the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly in September. Late Wednesday night, the U.S. president took to his Truth Social platform to share his opinion on the matter. Trump suggested that Ottawa's backing of Palestinian statehood would make it 'very hard' for his administration to make a trade deal with Canada. Bail ruling today for 3 accused in extremist plot A judge is scheduled to rule today on whether to grant bail to three men facing terrorism charges in an alleged plot to forcibly seize land in the Quebec City area. Quebec court Judge René de la Sablonnière heard evidence and arguments over three days. Simon Angers-Audet, 24, Raphaël Lagacé, 25, and Marc-Aurèle Chabot, 24, face charges of facilitating a terrorist activity, and other charges related to the illegal storage of firearms and possession of explosives and prohibited devices. There is a publication ban on details of the bail hearing, which heard from an RCMP officer, the three accused and several of their family members. Canadian teen visits Ukraine on humanitarian trip Sixteen-year-old Jaden Braves says he chose to travel to Ukraine and volunteer for a humanitarian aid group operating in a war zone because he thinks young people need to step up when others are suffering. Braves, who is from Toronto and is the founder of the Young Politicians of Canada, was in Kyiv for about two weeks in July. He told The Canadian Press he was there to support the organization Save Ukraine, which organizes rescue missions to return Ukrainian children taken by Russia. 'That's kind of pushed me to come to a war zone for the first time,' he said. 'I think it's about totally humbling yourself and saying that you're prepared to, you know, put yourself at risk for something that you understand is so important to the greater good.' A team of experts at Yale University has estimated that as many as 35,000 Ukrainian children may be held in Russia and its occupied territories. 7 people a year drown trying to save others: study A new study says an average of seven people in Canada die each year trying to save another person from drowning. The researchers found that 74 people drowned between January 2010 and December 2019 after attempting a rescue in the water. The study examined 4,535 fatal drownings in that 10-year timeframe and found someone tried to rescue more than half of them. Most of those hundreds of rescuers did not have any lifesaving training, but frequently risked their own lives by trying to grab the drowning person in the water. The Lifesaving Society released the study, first published in the BMJ in June, on Thursday in advance of the August long weekend. — This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 30, 2025
Globe and Mail
15 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Meet the Unstoppable Stock That Could Join Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple in the $3 Trillion Club
Key Points Nine American companies are currently worth $1 trillion or more, but just three have graduated into the $3 trillion club. Alphabet owns businesses like Google Search and Google Cloud, where revenue growth is currently accelerating thanks to artificial intelligence (AI). Alphabet stock is trading at a very attractive valuation, which sets the stage for a potential move into the $3 trillion club. 10 stocks we like better than Alphabet › The U.S. is home to nine companies with market capitalizations of $1 trillion or more, but only three have surpassed the ultra-exclusive $3 trillion milestone: Nvidia: $4.2 trillion Microsoft: $3.8 trillion Apple: $3.2 trillion I think another might be set to join them. Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) is the parent company of Google, and it's fast becoming a leader in the artificial intelligence (AI) race. The company had a market capitalization of $2.3 trillion as of market close on July 25, but its recent financial results and the valuation of its stock might support a move into the $3 trillion club in the near future. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More » If Alphabet does cross the exclusive milestone, investors who buy its stock today could earn a return of over 30%. AI is reshaping Google Search Google Search is Alphabet's most important business, because it consistently represents more than half of the tech conglomerate's total revenue. A few years ago, investors were worried AI chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT would filter traffic away from Google Search, hampering its ability to generate revenue through advertising. But it seems those concerns were overblown. Google Search generated a record $54.2 billion in revenue during the second quarter of 2025 (ended June 30), which was up 11.7% compared to the year-ago period. That marked an acceleration from its first-quarter growth of 9.8%, which suggests the search business is gathering momentum. AI is a big reason why. Alphabet developed its own family of large language models (LLMs) called Gemini, and it used them to create a new Google Search feature called AI Overviews. They use text, images, and links to third-party sources to craft complete responses to queries, saving users from having to sift through web pages to find the information they need. This creates a far more convenient experience. Alphabet said 2 billion people were using AI Overviews every month during the second quarter, and since they monetize at the same rate as traditional Google Search results, they aren't cannibalizing the company's core business. Overviews are also driving higher Google Search usage, because they encourage users to refine their queries to generate the most accurate outputs. Alphabet also launched a stand-alone AI chatbot called Gemini to capture traffic from users who prefer to seek information that way. Moreover, the company just rolled out "AI Mode" for Google Search, which introduces a chatbot-style interface to the traditional search experience. Alphabet hopes these tools will keep users within Google's ecosystem, and stop them from experimenting with the competition. Google Cloud revenue growth is also accelerating Google Cloud is consistently Alphabet's fastest-growing business, and the second quarter was no exception. The segment generated a record $13.6 billion in revenue, which was up by a whopping 32% year over year. That marked an acceleration from the first quarter, when revenue grew by 28%. AI is driving that momentum. Google Cloud operates industry-leading data centers fitted with powerful AI graphics processors (GPUs) from Nvidia, and also tensor processors (TPUs), which it designed in-house. This optionality makes the Google Cloud platform attractive to AI developers of all sizes, which is why nearly all AI unicorns (AI start-ups worth $1 billion or more) are using it. Google Cloud also offers access to hundreds of ready-made LLMs, including Gemini, which developers can use to create AI software much faster than if they had to train their own models from scratch. Alphabet said more than 85,000 enterprises are now building AI applications with Gemini models, resulting in a staggering year-over-year increase in usage of 35 times during the second quarter. Alphabet CFO Anat Ashkenazi said Google Cloud's order backlog soared 38% year over year to a whopping $106 billion, which means demand for computing capacity continues to outstrip supply. To convert that backlog into revenue, the company needs to build more data centers, which is why it just increased its capital expenditures (capex) forecast for 2025 to $85 billion, from $75 billion previously. Alphabet's (mathematical) path to the $3 trillion club Alphabet's earnings per share (EPS) climbed by 22% year over year in the second quarter to come in at $2.31. The company's trailing-12-month EPS now stands at $9.39, which places its stock at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 20.6. That's a steep discount to the Nasdaq-100 technology index, which hosts all of Alphabet's big-tech peers, and trades at a P/E ratio of 32.5. It also makes Alphabet the cheapest stock in the " Magnificent Seven," a group of tech giants leading the way in different segments of the AI race. PE Ratio data by YCharts Alphabet stock would have to soar by 83% just to trade in line with the median P/E ratio of the Magnificent Seven stocks (37.8), which would catapult its market cap to $4.2 trillion. Even if its stock climbed by 58% so its P/E matched that of the Nasdaq-100, it would still be enough to push the company's valuation way above $3 trillion. One thing suppressing Alphabet's P/E ratio right now is the ongoing legal battle with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The agency won a lawsuit last year that determined Alphabet used monopolistic practices to protect its market share in the internet search industry. For example, the company was paying Apple handsome annual fees to make Google the default search engine on devices like the iPhone, making it nearly impossible for competitors to make inroads. A judge is expected to hand down Alphabet's punishment in August. It could be a simple financial penalty, or the company might be forced to sell parts of its business to level the competitive playing field. Any remedy that diminishes the dominance of Google Search could harm Alphabet's earnings potential, which is why investors are tentative. However, there is likely to be a lengthy appeals process, which could tie the matter up in court for several more years. In the here-and-now, I think Alphabet stock is a bargain based on its incredible progress in the AI space alone, especially as it relates to Google Cloud, which isn't facing regulatory scrutiny right now. As a result, I think Alphabet has a pathway to the $3 trillion club in the next year or so, irrespective of the legal overhang. Should you invest $1,000 in Alphabet right now? Before you buy stock in Alphabet, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Alphabet wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $630,291!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,075,791!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,039% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 182% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 29, 2025
CBC
39 minutes ago
- CBC
Trump is threatening to take over these U.S. cities. But is that realistic?
U.S. President Donald Trump has implied that he would use the powers of the presidency to order a federal takeover of New York City and Washington, D.C. We break down how realistic that threat is.
